Bay of Biscay

We did it! Finally, only 4 months later than we originally planned (back in the early part of July). We first tried jumping off from Brest (well, Camaret- 8 km away, close enough) and turned around an hour out due to swell and 28kt winds! After exposing many weakness and breaking a few things in this short time, and lacking spares, we spent the next day in Camaret doing last minute stuff. The next attempt followed the day after that. The plan was to just go further down the coast. We looked at the tides & weather, and planned for a 55 nm day trip to Pte. de Penmarc'h, with a bail out plan at 22nm in Audierne. With a 5 kt tide in our favor, and 20 - 25 kt breeze, we were confident.

No such luck, as the breeze was on the nose & we were 1 hour late for slack tide so we had to fight a current that, when running full force is 3 times stronger than the Golden gate. After motorsailing in for 1 hour we made it around the point and out of the bay. Since we had lost so much time we bailed out at Audierne, France - Only 22 Nautical miles in 10 hours. That's a 2.2 kt SOG (speed over the ground). Those of you who are boaties know this sucks! Also, as we would come to find out, the boat is a slug!

We found a cute little anchorage that happened to be the ferry turning basin, but who knew? It was dark when we pulled in and hid from the storm. The next day we hiked 5k into town, picking up some delicious cheese, having coffee, and being reminded that every shop closes for a 3 hour mid day nap, or something like that. We readied ourselves for the journey that lied ahead, beginning the following day. As it would turn out, the weather was absolutely beautiful, but still chilly.

Watch schedule was set and now being a veteran, I would be standing watch solo. I did this once from Fowey to Brest, but it’s still a bit nerve-racking. So, doing night shift by oneself gives a lot of time to sort out your head, or be totally bored! Then Van Morrison’s song “Into the Mystic” comes on my iPod – “We were born before the wind…… sail into the mystic”! So apropos. As my mind started to wander the following thoughts ran through my head.

-Thinking about that movie “Whale Rider” and how it was the little girl (with the gift) all along. And just how strong women are in general.

-How slow this boat is going and why it’s so slow. Captain Richard’s theory of the legend of a giant squid attached to the bottom of the boat, reducing our speed by 2-3 kts was, well, just not holding water. The boat just had a mud bath for months in England and that bottom should be smooth and silky!

-Brian and I are destination driven people. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the journey, but I like to get places to. This speed is just too slow for us. I like to see progress, and not look down at 211 NM to go with my heart sink. (That’s like 55 hours at 4 kts.)

-How Richard said he didn’t want to “blow” past things/places. Well, their is no danger in that happening at average speeds of 3- 4 knots/hour!

-How we were in a big blue watery abyss of nothingness. Nothing but water for hundreds of miles around you. It was kind of neat, definitely a very unique perspective.

-How cool the dolphins that came and played in our bow wake are. So beautiful, so fast, so curious

-Only making 5 knots in 25 knot breeze. Hmmmmm…

-Dave Matthews song “Ants Marching” (I think that’s the title), and the lyrics “Take these chances” & “words unsaid are crimes” – so true. We get older and stop risking ourselves, our souls, and our thoughts. This truly is a crime because when we stop doing this, people cease to know the real you and we become a just another cog in the big machine of the “Man”. Personal growth and enrichment, it takes effort!

-11pm – 1am shift: Hove to 3 times! (Wind on the wrong side of the sails). We did only have very light winds which makes the helm virtually impossible to control. The first time took me 20 minutes to correct, the second only 5 minutes, and the third, well, I just tacked her over – screw it we needed to go that direction anyhow. Oh, and I made a total of -0.1 nm. Yeah, that’s a negative way.

-5am – 7am shift: woke up pissed off, dark, no helm due to light winds, no compass that worked. The moon had just set and it was now cloudy, only a handheld GPS that needed fresh batteries to steer by. It lags so far behind(15 to 30 sec) that you are too late when you go to correct. No AIS(a big ship finder), no Autopilot, no compass oh yeah, we got those things; they just aren’t hooked up (installed)! Plus, a brand new wind indicator that is useless– *face palm* No power – yes a very grumpy kitty indeed!

-Why does the generator (our back up power source that was being used as our primary source of power since we needed batteries & a voltage regulator) always run on my shifts?


-7am – 10am shift: Light winds again. Made 2nm/hour. I can swim faster than that! Oh yeah, I have. Sun came up at 9am with pre dawn light at 8am. So, it was dark for most of my morning “day shift”.

-How difficult it is to write while sailing. It’s like trying to write while in the car. I hope I can read my own notes!

-3am – 5am night shift (Oct 27th): Standing watch alone in 25kt winds is like running a 10k with your arms while being on fear factor! Oh and dad, you would have been puking your brains out! After taking 2 days of sea sickness medication & eating some yogurt covered crystallized ginger, I still wasn’t 100% myself. 2 hours at the wheel was enough & I was ready to go lie down!

So that’s what’s in the kitty brain, you say! We left on Oct 25th around 10am and arrived 6 days, 5 nights later, on Oct. 30, 2009 in La Coruňa, Spain. We were only 35nm off the coast on day 4 but spent the next 48 hours trying to make our way in, due to wind (light and on the nose), power (as in, we really didn’t have any – batteries were duff), and fuel (lack of fuel filters, old diesel, etc.) issues. In the mean time we ran out of propane for the stove too – Great, not really. Meow!

On the positive, we made it safe and sound.